How can we grow the GOP in central Orange County?

By Art Pedroza

The Republican Party of Orange County has suffered a string of losses in central Orange County since the late 1990's. How can the party recover?

In Santa Ana, California, the GOP has suffered a long string of losses since the late 1990's, when Republican Congressman Bob Dornan, Assemblyman Jim Morrissey and State Senator Rob Hurtt all fell to defeat. Local party leaders could stand to learn a thing or two from the savvy Bonilla.

What Bonilla did was simple. He targeted all the business owners in his district. Many were Latino, and he bonded with them right away. He would ask them how their businesses were doing - and what they thought about their tax burdens and government in general. Many of the Democrats he met realized in talking to Bonilla that while they were registered Democrats, their values were Republican in nature. Before long Bonilla had his victory.

The local Republican party in Orange County has tried to retake central Orange County by paying "bounty hunters" to collect registrations. You have probably seen them, camped out in front of supermarkets. Regrettably, many of them have fooled voters into switching parties, as reported in the Orange County Register.

There is a better way to build the party - as we saw in the Bonilla example. More Latinos than ever are opening businesses in Orange County. We need to make sure they know that our party is the one that fights for lower taxes and less government intrusion. And we need to establish open lines of communication with these important voters.

The GOP can retake central Orange County - but to do so we will also need to recruit decent candidates and help them win. We need candidates who will fight to lower taxes, to reduce government intrusion in our lives, and who will support school choice.

We also need to encourage Republican volunteers to help register voters honestly - and to help to get out the vote on election day.